At this juncture of professional football pre-season, general managers across the league are evaluating their rosters for existing talent and assessing their needs in preparation for the upcoming season. Using effective recruitment processes and the right technology to evaluate performance, they’re able to assemble, shape and perfect their roster while positioning themselves for a title run. Progressive employers across the country are implementing similar strategies in an effort to ramp up fall hiring.

With many possible approaches to both attracting superstar talent and making the right selection for your team, companies must focus on proven strategies backed by best-of-breed technology. Below, we’ve detailed three key ways to build a strong roster, keep your talent pipeline full and score a touchdown with every quality hire.

Your Recruitment Process Should Start with Strong Scouting

We all know that great teams possess strong players, but the scouting process that puts those players in place is just as vital to your company’s long-term health. It all starts with the proactive systems your business has in place to capture active and passive candidates that connect with your brand. According to recent report by iCIMS, 75 percent of job seekers agree that companies should develop more talent pools to keep them informed on job alerts and other company announcements. Consumer-minded candidates want to stay engaged with your brand, so making the investments in the right technology to do so is critical to engagement. With a candidate-relationship management (CRM) tool, you can nurture your talent pipelines and help job seekers stay in touch with your brand through social profiles, mobile friendly career portals and automated recruitment marketing materials.

Aim to Attract Superstars by Hosting Career Fairs

According to a recent iCIMS survey, 63 percent of full time employees are looking for a new job, meaning there’s a wealth of opportunity to connect with rising superstar talent. One way to do so is by hosting a career fair, whether your company is targeting college campuses for entry level jobs/interns, or aiming for experienced professionals. Career fairs offer the chance to meet and screen a large volume of potential candidates in a short period of time. A CRM tool will allow you to promote the event in advance with both existing candidates in your network and newly discovered ones via your social profiles. During the event, a check-in kiosk puts candidates in control, allowing them to register and check-in directly from their phone, while their profiles are submitted directly into your system, eliminating inefficient manual entry. Afterwards, you can create and configure source-of-hire reports for insight into how your recruitment events are working and where you can make improvements.

Selecting Those Who’ve Made the Cut

After you’ve spent some time sorting through the influx of candidates, you’ll need to make some tough roster decisions. Like a football coach granting a roster spot, you’ll be extending your offers to the most skilled job seekers who fit your culture. With an applicant tracking system doing all the heavy lifting, extending those offer letters are as easy as the click of a button, along with the compliance related tasks that follow. With a bolstered network of candidates in your talent pool, you can keep them in the know for future opportunities or organizational changes so that you’ll never be subjected to any talent outage.

It’s proven time and again, the most successful teams are the most prepared ones entering the season. With fall quickly approaching, employers need to begin thinking about their strategy to navigate through the complexities of recruitment and draft superstar team players who can produce a strong ROI on their business. The war for talent is fought on the gridiron, and with the right tools and technology in place, you will win.